Can religions survive into a "magical future" time?
April 22 2008 / by futuretalk
Category: Culture Year: General Rating: 7 Hot
By Dick Pelletier
At the center of our civilization lies culture – and the core of
our culture has traditionally been religion. More than any other
factor, religion provides a perception of reality by explaining the
origins of the universe and giving meaning to history as well as
humanity’s place in it. Religion defines the nature of good and
evil and creates reward and punishment images of life after
death.
The world’s major religions share their values but not philosophies, and conflicting ideologies have prevented peaceful coexistence in many of our societies for thousands of years. No single religion dominates Earth’s 6.5 billion people, as the following list shows: Christianity 2.1-billion, Islam 1.3-billion, Secular, Agnostic, Atheists, Freethinkers 1.1-billion, Hinduism 900-million, and Judaism, 14-million.
Most religious traditions include seeds of compassion and harmony, but some tend to promote conflict. While the world benefits from religious leaders like Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama who try to promote peace and benevolence, others like evangelical Christian James Dobson and Taliban leader Mullah Omar cause strife with their “I’m right and you’re wrong” mantra. This negative stance often inspires terrorists that try to weaken or supplant nations through fear, violence and intimidation.
Forward-thinking spiritual leaders understand that religions must change if they want to fill the needs of a civilization about to experience overwhelming science and technology breakthroughs at exponential speeds. Futurists predict that by mid-century or before, biotech, nanotech, infotech, and cognitive sciences could ‘morph’ the world into a global community enjoying the benefits of a high-tech future. (cont.)
As the Internet grows and absorbs more of humanity’s knowledge, technology will soon enable two-way natural voice access making this communication system’s wealth of information available to everyone. This will equalize nations and the people in them, and curb tensions caused by today’s misinformation. By 2050, positive-thinkers believe that civilization could finally achieve lasting peace.
As life extension technologies mature, futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that science may one day eliminate unwanted deaths. In Kurzweil’s scenario, humans would not die from sickness, old age, or even accidents. Should death rates begin to shrink, there would be less demand for religious counseling to overcome fear of death.
However, theologians believe religions will still have much to offer their parishioners. They can help people identify good and evil, which promotes a healthier moral life; preserve cultural and religious differences, which evoke feelings of individuality and pride; and instill a sense of belonging with congregational meetings.
Ethics Professor Thomas McFaul believes that distrust will give way to trust, and religions of the world will come together to bring greater peace and justice into the global village. “By mid-century”, McFaul says, “religious groups will treasure what is at the heart of their own beliefs and still respect, cooperate with, and appreciate the uniqueness of other traditions”.
Experts predict that future religious leaders will encourage their faithful to act as unified “world” citizens practicing justice, peace, compassion, and optimism. Obsessions over cultural differences will disappear.
So to answer the question: “Will religions survive as Earth goes high-tech and global”? Futurists believe that religions willing to adapt to our rapidly changing 21st century technologies will survive and prosper as we move towards an amazing “magical future”.
Comment Thread (1 Response)
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Religion and Faith will always be a factor in our humanity. Likewise, Religion, regardless of its apparent inconsistencies and contradictions, offers some sense of Divine Judgment at the end of one’s life and at the end of the Age. Though many people do not believe in absolutes, I for one believe that there is absolute justice that comes into play when we step into Eternity. Otherwise, those that perpetuate evil in this life get off scot-free. One’s Religious moorings need not conflict with his belief in life extension through the combined sciences of Nanotech, etc. His belief system will bring balance and counterweight to a most complex Paradigm of life, one that could very well lead towards conditional immortality. Time will tell how this plays out. Hopefully, I shall still be of sound mind and body when I reach the century mark.
Posted by: suttercain7734 July 29, 2008
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